PM visits injured in London hospital

Theresa May has made a 40-minute private visit to an unnamed London hospital to comfort victims of yesterday’s attacks and thank medical staff, her spokesman said at this afternoon’s lobby briefing.

May also travelled to Buckingham Palace last night, at about 6pm, to hold her usual audience with the Queen, the spokesman confirmed.

He said May had signed the condolence book for the victims of the attacks and had received calls from a series of world leaders since the attack, including the French president, François Hollande, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Donald Trump.

Keith Palmer's family pay tribute to 'brave and courageous' officer

The family of PC Keith Palmer have released a statement through the Met police:

Keith will be remembered as a wonderful dad and husband. A loving son, brother and uncle. A longtime supporter of Charlton FC. Dedicated to his job and proud to be a police officer, brave and courageous.

A friend to everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed. We love him so much. His friends and family are shocked and devastated by his loss and ask that they are left to grieve alone in peace.

The police have also released more details of Palmer’s career, he joined the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command in April 2016 and before that was in the territorial support group, based at Catford but patrolling and working across London. Before the TSG, he was based in Bromley borough between 2002 and 2009.

Keith was 48 and joined the Met in November 2001. He was married with a five-year-old daughter. He was nominated in 2015 for best thief taker in the Commissioner’s Excellence Awards, having made more than 150 arrests in 12 months.

PC James Aitkenhead, who worked alongside him in the TSG, called him a “genuinely nice person”.

When I heard what had happened I knew it would be him because that’s just the sort of guy he was, to step straight in when others might step back. He had a great work ethic, he worked on our warrants’ car for years, getting up at 4am to serve warrants and arresting wanted offenders. He was always so positive, always staying late after everyone else and getting in early.

In his personal life he was a massive Charlton Athletic fan and had a season ticket. We will miss him so much.

Insp Mark Turner, from the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, who most recently worked withPalmer, said:

He really was a solid reliable member of the team – he came in and just got the job done, quietly and efficiently. He was a fantastic member of staff and will be sorely missed.

As a mark of respect, Palmer’s shoulder number – 4157U – will be retired and not reissued to any other officer.

Jeremy Corbyn has been laying flowers on Westminster Bridge as a tribute to those killed yesterday. He also said he had signed the book of condolence for PC Keith Palmer. He said Palmer was “a great man who did a great job in parliament”.

A woman from an inner-city Birmingham estate that was raided by anti-terror police has claimed the dead London terrorist was her neighbour.

Iwona Romek, a factory worker who did not know the attacker’s name, described the killer as a father who was a keen gardener and lived with his Asian wife and young child.

Romek, 45, who has lived in Quayside in Winson Green for 12 years, confirmed she knew the London terrorist when she was shown a photograph of him on the stretcher.

I have been so shocked by it all. They were a nice family, very reserved. He was very calm. I saw the photos on the TV and knew it was the man who lived here. He had a wife, a young Asian woman, and a small child who went to school.

Romek said the family moved out a few months ago. The house is now occupied by new tenants. On Thursday afternoon a police van remained parked outside the white front door.

He was a nice guy. I used to see him outside doing his garden. Never any trouble.

Romek said the man and his family moved out around Christmas very suddenly and did not say goodbye.

Describing the late-night raid, she said officers had swarmed the terraced mews house.

I just heard a lot of banging and shouting. They were shouting to open the door. It was all a bit scary. There was a helicopter above and men in white suits.

The JustGiving page set up to support the family of PC Keith Palmer has now raised more than £100,000, a spokesman for the site said. It is now the fastest growing JustGiving crowdfunding page in history.

The site reached its £100,000 target in just over six hours with donations from more than 5,500 members of the public. JustGiving has also made a donation of £10,000.

Boris Johnson is addressing the UN security council in New York on Thursday. He was in Washington when the attack took place, where he was offered President Trump’s personal condolences by vice-president Mike Pence.

Sources close to the former mayor of London said he was “shocked and disgusted” by the attack on his home city and that the terrorist attack underlined the importance of confronting Daesh [Isis], the topic of yesterday’s talks in the US capital. He is expected to travel on to Turkey, where he will discuss heightened aviation security measures.

This is what he tweeted about the attack yesterday.

Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson)

Heartbreaking. This is not the first attack on London or our Parliament - and won't be the last - but our values will prevail.